Caledon youth works alongside big movie stars in new film ‘My Spy’

Written By ALYSSA PARKHILL

12-year-old Caledon resident Keller Viaene has wanted to be an actress ever since she was a little girl. She would often park herself in front of the TV and dream about being one of the stars of her favourite shows. 

Having learned of her daughter's acting aspirations, Lauren's mom, Jacqui, signed her up for acting classes, where she got to experience what the industry is all about, and the process it takes to get onto the big screen.

“I really enjoyed it. The acting coach then recommended me to an agent and it all really started from there,” Keller said.

In the new movie, ‘My Spy', Viaene starred alongside other big industry names, including Dave Bautista, Ken Jeong and Kristen Schaal just to name a few. 

“Everyone was really funny on set and super nice, like the assistant directors and even the director Peter Segal, was very nice,” said Viaene. “We got to do a bunch of fun stuff because there was a lot of kids on set, so it wasn't boring at all.”

She added, “I got to meet so many people like Chloe Coleman, who was the lead. She played Sophie and she was super nice and really talented.”

The movie is about a young girl who catches a CIA agent watching her family. In order to keep her quiet, and his cover intact, the agent teaches her how to be a spy, but things take a twist. 

Viaene plays Emmy in the movie, who is a bit of a mean girl. 

“She's a catty girl, the kind of mean girl in school and she would make fun of Sophie because she was the new kid and picked on her, which wasn't very nice. It was fun to play her because right when the camera's turned off, everyone was back to being nice,” she said. 

Keller admitted it took some work to be able to turn into someone she wasn't, but it was good learning for her. 

“It was different. It was different because I've never played a mean girl before and it was different because now, I know the different ranges of personalities that I could play. It's cool to see how someone can really switch on an opposite of your own personality,” she said. 

Keller knew she wanted to be an actress at a young age and has been grateful to be able to pursue that dream. But she understood the importance of always having a back-up plan. If for some reason, she decided to pursue another occupation to shape her future besides acting, she claims to have always wanted to be a dermatologist. 

“Acting is not a guaranteed job, unless you get a recurring role in something. I'd love to do acting if it were to work out, but if not, I would love to be a dermatologist,” she said. “I think there's something so fascinating with what dermatologists do and stuff like that. I think that'd be super fun.”

At 12-years-old, Viaene has tons of time to figure out what she wants her future to look like. She plans to continue pursuing her acting career, but is comfortable with the knowledge that there is something else she's interested in, as her back up plan. Having acted in other major films, including Good Witch and The Boys, her acting career is off to a great start. 

“I'd love to do acting again because you get to meet so many cool people and have so many different opportunities,” Keller said.